Konoha's watcher
by MatthewBadger
Summary: What happens when a skilled man is reborn in konoha? Will he be named a prodigy and savior, or will he be shunned for his ability? Will his actions help or harm the timeline? Only one thing is for certain; That things in konoha will never be the same... OC SI
1. Chapter 1

…

 **Death**

I was killed

We all expect to die one day, but I never anticipated the act to be so sudden. So stunningly fast and unavoidable.

The bullet which pierced my brain was like a shadow. A ghost of a feeling which I couldn't register in time.

 _There was no time_.

I could not jerk, gasp or even twitch.

Death was like a tsunami. You could see the rolling wave. You could hear the thunderous roar. You could feel the frostbitten wind.

But there was no escape. No matter how hard you tried to run from it, there was only sight, shock, fear and then…

 _Nothingness._

…

 **Spark in the night**

The life I lived before death was not a happy one. It was not filled with adventure, success or excitement. Nor was it excessively depressing. (At least not until the end)

I began my old life like many boys did.

A young and hopeful child who wanted to become an astronaut. I would play outside every day and gather strange artefacts – usually half buried plates and small coins. When I came home I would eat dinner with my mother and occasionally a friend. Life was peaceful.

Once I entered school, I was teased but not bullied. Just another face in the crowd.

By the time high school began I was doing well. I had many friends and was getting good grades. I would also go to martial arts practice and play with my new pet dog.

I named him pat.

Aside from movies, gaming and TV, I watched anime. This is what led me to the famed Naruto. My relationship with the show was never deep. I knew quite a few friends who could spout facts left and right about the storyline. I even knew someone who had memorised the basic hand-signs (he was full of _youthfulness_ if you know what I mean…)

My interest was different.

Whilst the others had watched everything they could, I had barely seen the chunin exam ark. When friends recalled events I would give them a blank stare. When they spouted about _hope_ and _friendship_ and _teamwork_ , I shook my head.

For me, Naruto has never been those things.

Naruto was my inspiration and measuring stick. The spark for the fire that ended my life.

…

 **Sweet, sweet corruption**

A year after my introduction to Naruto, I became consumed with boredom and curiosity. What was I doing with my life? What _could_ I do with my life?

More importantly, I thought back to that famous anime which I had watched for a while before moving on. There was something about the show which drew me in. not the story, Not the characters and definitely not the premise… so what was it? Why could I not help but remember Naruto of all shows?

And then it came to me.

The idea of fending for yourself and living off of your own skills was… _intriguing_.

More than that in fact. It was what I wanted. To be stronger than others both mentally and physically. To rely on none but yourself. To do the occasional dirty deed and benefit from it. To use resources that others can't and in a way that proves your superiority. And to protect your precious people when all others give up.

I would protect mother and pat from anything.

After that, my life began to twist and writhe towards a depressing end. My grades lowered and my enemies mounted. I was no longer a face in the crowd. In fact, it was difficult to spot me at all any more.

I often wondered back than if I had made the right choice, but I could never deny the cold satisfaction after a successful pickpocket. I could never ignore the thrill of the chase, no matter which side I was on.

As I got older my reputation grew. I was no longer the star eyed and innocent boy of my past.

I was a contract maker, a hooded vigilante, a thief in the shadows, the chill down your spine in a deserted alleyway and a settler of disputes - No matter the kind. I had blood on my hands but I didn't care. I was wanted by all (including my own mother) but I paid no heed.

And so, on a dreary day of October, I was shot in the head by the police.

… _I have no regrets…_

…

 **Discovery**

It did not take long to discover what had transpired – that my consciousness had been somehow reincarnated as a baby. It also did not take long for me to discover what universe this was. How could I miss the famed forehead protectors? The strange hair and eye colours? The hushed conversations regarding Konoha's matters?

The final nail in the coffin, was when the doctors extended their hands towards me as if to massage my limbs. Not even my adult mind could restrain my squeal when I was encased in glowing green _energy._

In my terror, I almost missed the whispered words. The flashing hand signs. _The Byakugan eyes…_

"Shh… hush little one… you must be strong for konoha… uphold the will of fire" she whispered with a smile.

I shivered in barely restrained astonishment.

The doctor turned to her right "my Byakugan has detected extreme amounts of spiritual energy…" she looked back at me before looking over my shoulder once more "it appears that his chakra system is expanding to make up for it… I don't think his body can produce enough chakra to keep up…" she paused and her eyes looked uncertain for a moment "...Should we begin a chakra transplant?"

Someone replied from behind me "yes"

…

 **Goodnight sweet prince**

When thinking back on my early life and its developments, I admit that I was abnormal.

This (To put it bluntly) unnerved my family. _A lot_.

Apparently it's unusual for even the most prodigious of children to achieve my feats. First of all, I was scarily intelligent. Under my penetrating gaze, adults would flinch. When I spoke my first words, my mother looked fearful and my father became pale. After a month on this earth, I learned to walk- and not only that- I would make barely a sound. Like a ghost. Like a _ninja._

Of course, I was hailed as a prodigy.

Could I have avoided it? No - it would have been impossible. I already contained abnormal chakra. I could not have avoided konoha's watchers.

However, despite my best efforts to learn and improve, I had met a barrier to my attempts. There was just no more information around anymore. Maybe my parents had removed all books out of revulsion and desperation. Heavens knows that they were unforthcoming in the shinobi arts.

Yes. Joy of joys I had been born into an average civilian family. Perfect… I suppose this explains why my situation was so concerning to my parents. I mean, it's not often that a civilian child shows this level of rapid development. Like a prodigy.

I was a regular little Kakashi.

…Or maybe Itachi?

Anyway, back to the problem at hand. I had gone through all reading material that I could acquire and had begun to notice a lack of new information for my ninja studies. At least my parents were decent enough to gift me _civilian_ learning material. However, their charity was misplaced.

Having gone to school in my past life, anything that they tried to teach me was useless and beyond boring. In fact, one night I got so tired of it that I tried to leave through the window. Upon my return from my brief escapade, my parents were furious - instantly locking me in my room.

Yeah… I won't be trying that again

Like I needed even more restrictions… _(Sigh)_. Although, after being shut away from the rest of the house, I had far more time to myself – so it wasn't _that_ bad.

I have a feeling that my caretakers preferred this too. They must have been creeped out by my perfect silence and searching eyes. (Damn civilians - why couldn't I have been born into a shinobi family?)

Due to my low contact with my parents (they would avoid me whenever I wasn't in need of feeding and changing) it was a long time before I discovered my name. At five weeks old, my mother was holding me to her chest and staring at me with her pale green eyes. Looking down into my unwavering emerald stare, she murmured the words "oh, my little daichi-chan… why are you so quiet?"

She tried again. "…Is-is there something wrong… do you need anything?" I stared back unyieldingly.

Flinching once again under the relentlessness of my eyes, she sighed and turned away. "Goodnight my little daichi…" she whispered.

That was the last time she truly hugged me.

…

 **Super baby**

By the time I was four and a half months old I had begun to notice the build-up of chakra within me.

This was a big milestone for my enhanced development and I was ecstatic. This was it! The moment that I truly took my first steps as a ninja. Ever since discovering that I was within the Naruto universe I had been looking forward to the emergence of my inherent power source. Now all I needed to do was control it…

I immediately began to experiment on my strange new chakra.

Thinking back to the show and shinobi books I had read, I decided that my chakra was too underdeveloped to perform any _real_ training so I resigned myself to just moving it within my body and getting a feel for its presence. This turned out to be surprisingly easy - due to how different it felt to anything I've experienced before, I found it natural to distinguish my chakra and how it moves between my tenketsu's. To be honest, it felt like a constant tickling sensation running through imaginary veins. And If I pushed hard enough, (which happened surprisingly often) I was able to coalesce the energy into specific body parts - which was fun - not just because I was making progress in my training, but because I could influence my muscle strength to higher levels. (Although this was somewhat exhausting)

It also turns out that I had a huge amount of chakra built up all along, and that It had only just begun to grow - which was convenient now that I think about it, because otherwise I would have run out of chakra long before I could do all that. (Lucky me)

Suddenly, I was no longer a helpless lump of pure baby. I could suddenly move, act and think like and adult again.

Ha-ha, take that Mother Nature!

Thankfully, the adults barely saw me anymore, so they didn't notice my vast physical improvement. I also remembered that at some point in the show, someone (sarutobi I think? Probably not…) explained that chakra control allows children to perform physical training without harmful side effects. That meant that I could start exercising… before I even turned one!

I once again threw myself into training - much like I did in my previous life - by performing push ups and sit ups whilst moulding my chakra.

For the next few months I trained in my room every night until exhaustion.

…

 **Kitchen catastrophe**

When around eight months had passed, things started to get interesting.

The day started off like any other. I woke up (at the request/shout from mother), got dressed and headed into the bathroom to get ready.

Opening the door using a small chakra propelled leap (I am still too small to reach the handle) I walked silently into the pristine white room and ambled over to the sink where my makeshift box stairs were located.

After completing the climb I looked into the mirror and was greeted by a familiar sight.

There, in the perfectly clean mirror was the face of my new body. It was definitely chubby, with small rosy cheeks pointed cutely inwards. Situated there, was a small rounded nose which glowed a faint red. Above that my eyes – which were like miniature lakes of emerald – stared frankly back at me, as if judging their creator. Framing them, dangled silky tufts of brown hair that when caught in the light, reflected flecks of gold and silver.

I was like a tiny cherub…

Looking downwards in a disgruntled manner, I began brushing my teeth with determination.

I really needed to cover up my face if I wanted to become a respected shinobi. Clearly, I had received a larger percentage of genes on my mother's side than my fathers and the results annoyed me.

How was I meant to strike fear into the hearts of my enemies if I look like a fluffy kitten?

Yes, I _definitely_ needed to get a face mask in the near future when I join the academy. It just wouldn't be right to learn and practice the shinobi arts whilst looking like an infant. 'Hmmm… but what mask to use? The ANBU masks were cool but I'm pretty sure they are off limits to regular shinobi. The hunter-nin masks are fearsome looking in their own right what with the slitted eyes and war paint, but it might give out the wrong impression.'

Massaging the bridge of my nose to relieve myself of the distracting thoughts, I headed over to the shower and proceeded to wash myself. Finally finished with the morning ritual, I got dressed and headed downstairs.

My clothing was very simple. A thin grey shirt which clung to my small frame comfortably underneath a loose-fitting black T-shirt that sported a huge collar – resembling that of the Uchihas. Below I wore knee-length blue shorts which supported multiple pockets. Completing the outfit were a pair of fingerless blue gloves and black shinobi sandals (purchased in secret along with a set of kunai and senbon)

Whilst descending the stairs, I noticed that the atmosphere in the house felt slightly off… I could see that it was much darker than it should be at this time in the morning.

Straining my ears I sought out the familiar sounds of chatter from my parents and tiptoed cautiously onwards. I frowned then – out of both frustration and concern – because by now there was no doubt that the house was silent.

Nothing. Not a peep.

This immediately got me tensing. In my past life, I would instantly have leapt out of the nearest window in order to avoid capture, however I was no longer living alone.

I had to find my parents – mother had definitely called me for breakfast – and as a result I felt obliged to stick around. After all, I was already more formidable in this body than ever before – and I'm pretty sure there are no guns in the Naruto-verse. (Granted, the enemies of this world don't need guns)

Having made my decision, I still thought to open the window whilst passing as it would provide a useful avenue of escape. Then, knowing that stealth and evasion would be the deciding factor in any engagement, I flawlessly transitioned to the ceiling where I stuck via my sandals.

I now paused – any unnecessary noise could reveal my presence and the consequences were unacceptable.

Considering this, I found myself crawling stealthily forward amid the shadows of the ceiling, making sure never to reveal myself for more than a second. If this had been another situation I would have marvelled at how the ground floor hallway looked from up here, however I could not allow any distraction or I would surely be killed.

The more I neared the kitchens doorway, the more apprehension I felt. Why would shinobi attack my house? We had no valuables – and any money we owned was stored elsewhere. Could it be me they were after? A sudden chill went up my spine.

 _Danzo_

'Of course! How could I have been so stupid? Me, a one year old child able to channel and use chakra. A child with intelligence in abundance and a lack of concerned relatives. How could I not have expected him to come? If ROOT agents were to take me now, I would be defenceless and no one would miss me…'

I flicked my gaze around the room uneasily.

There was no movement, but I would not allow myself complacency. The situation was spiralling out of control. There could be dozens of agents around the house, all of them prepared to intercept escape attempts.

I felt caged, I was alone and likely to be taken prisoner by a mad man and his mindless drones. Destined never to taste freedom again.

' _NO!'_

I would not give in to them that easily. I had to grab my parents and get the hell out of here before it's too late.

Stealing my nerves, I prepared to leap from my ceiling perch.

 _Breathe in_

 _Breathe out_

' _Go!'_

Using as much chakra as I could harness, I propelled myself towards the kitchen door, aiming my rigid leg to collide with the lock.

 **BOOM!**

The sound was deafening, and as I flew bodily through the shattered remains of the once locked door – wooden splinters and jagged shrapnel spraying in all directions - my eyes took in the scene before me…

In the centre of the room was a large table. I could not see its contents clearly but they appeared to host a variety of colours. Surrounding it was a large group people. Some of them were bending over, others were lounging, and the rest were standing stock still. All of them were staring at me in open mouthed astonishment. Above them was a huge banner coloured in reds and blues, and displayed the words;

 _HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAICHI!_

…


	2. Chapter 2

**Body flicker**

I stared at their shocked faces

They stared back

One of them coughed

I continued to stare.

Suddenly a dark haired man was beside me – seemingly materialising out of thin air. ' _A shunshin'_ I realised.

The man began to speak, but his voice lacked emotion "why did you destroy the door?" his eyebrow was raised. I noticed that several wood chips were littering his hair and his green combat vest had become dusty.

I cleared my throat and replied in a similar voice to his "when I descended the stairs, I noticed that the house was deserted – despite my mother's calls. I assumed shinobi had infiltrated the building, and took appropriate measures to ensure a surprise attack"

The man looked unimpressed with this answer. "Because the house was silent, you assumed shinobi were attacking?"

"yes." I continued, unperturbed. "I have been expecting a kidnap attempt for quite a while, due to my potential as a shinobi." I replied unemotionally.

The man's face remained unaffected, however his eyes showed new-found respect.

"Well then, we had better begin the party before someone chokes on a fly" the man drawled, and I noticed that a large portion of the guests still hadn't moved yet. "One last thing" the man said quietly "Hokage-sama requests to meet you when the party has finished." The man stepped backwards and disappeared once again.

I felt hugely underwhelmed _'I guess he's a no nonsense kind of guy… he never said his name either'_ I thought before sweat dropping.

' _I need to learn that Jutsu one day'_ I lamented, before walking towards the shocked guests.

…

 **Children**

Not long after the party had started, I became irritable and annoyed.

Ever since my 'grand entrance', the partygoers (mostly friends of my parents) were incredibly nervous of me. Furthermore, they were completely unused to my staring. As a result, their presence here began to corrode on my patience. It was obvious that they had only come here to support my caretakers and could care less about my wellbeing. In fact, I doubt that they would have minded me never coming at all. _To my own birthday!_

Eventually, they got tired of my company and sent me to the corner where the other children were. The kids were annoying as hell. They ended up doing the regular one year old thing and chewed on some toys whilst gurgling… fun…

Seeing as there was nothing else to do, I sat down (as far away from the children as possible) and began training.

Now that I had worked on my fitness for several months, I was capable of feats that would have shocked me in my past life (such as smashing rocks with my fist or walking up walls – I only broke the wall twice trying to learn that!)

And so, putting those skills to the test, I began to practice my taijutsu. Considering my large background in martial arts (I had been training in kung-Fu and some taekwondo since I was ten years old) and my enhanced senses - my speed, strength and awareness had all increased with the addition of chakra - I found myself surpassing my past life's ability by far. In my old life I may have been more comfortable with my body's movements, but here I made up for it with raw power and athletics.

Whereas before, I would have been stationary and slow moving, I was now able to twist, bend and jump – as if defying gravity – to the point where I could breeze through forms and accomplish mid-air strikes.

Despite only practicing for three weeks, I had regained nearly full muscle memory and was well on my way to perfecting my Yoda-like fighting style. Never had I guessed that chakra could be so useful!

Anyway…

I was completing a particularly complicated set of moves (involving a spinning kick which morphed into a backhand strike and then a follow-up punch) when I noticed some low powered chakra signatures approaching.

Pausing mid strike, I allowed my head to turn minutely – just enough to glance at the new arrivals.

There were three in total, all of them short. The one in the middle looked to be the leader, and he was dressed quite peculiarly. The first thing I noticed was his massive blue scarf; it trailed down between his legs, and dragged along the ground as he walked. On his head he wore a strange white skull cap that allowed an offshoot of spiky brown hair to poke out. Upon his yellow shirt there featured a konoha leaf in faded red.

The other two were almost as obscure. The girl to his left had a duo of pointy orange ponytails which stood up as if electrified. She wore a red shirt and a headband which appeared navy blue. The other boy wore a large blue coat, a pair of wide circular glasses, and a bowl-cut like hairdo.

They all looked around two to three years old and were staring at me with frank admiration.

"WHOAH, ARE YOU A NINJA!?" the lead toddler blurted out – his voice full of childish enthusiasm.

' _Hn… children… must they be so loud… and_ abrasive _?'_ I thought despairingly whilst sweat dropping.

'Maybe I should scare them away? …Naaah… too much effort…' my inner thoughts continued.

"HEY, I WAS _AASKING_ IF YOU WERE A _NIIINJAA_!" he continued to yell, scrunching his face with the effort.

I sweat dropped a third time. 'He sure does remind me of Naruto'

"Uhh… no, not really… I just trained myself how to fight and use chakra" I replied impassively. "And please refrain from shouting at me all the time. It's _annoying_ " the last statement was accompanied by a grimace.

Instantly I was faced with a huddle of awed faces and a smattering of 'whoa's and 'cool's.

"Can you teach us, _peeeeaase?_ " the girl asked. They looked ready to start graveling on the floor at my feet.

"…"

" _PEEEEEEAAAASE?"_ the coat wearing boy asked.

With a violently twitching eye I answered disdainfully; "Gah! Fine… if you shut up about it, I'll give you some pointers on chakra control and exercises. But after that can you leave me alone?" my childish voice just didn't do my threat justice.

"Plus, you must refer to me as: Daichi sensei"

The leader figure gave me a hip-toothed grin and bowed down in mock reverence. Thanks to **my** past life's practice in observation, I could make out the shivers of excitement that he gave off, and raised my eyebrow in response. 'I don't know what they're expecting from me, but maybe I can use this opportunity to gain some… accomplices?' my inner self contemplated – 'Jiraiya won't be the only shinobi with a spy network for much longer… hehehe'.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you Daichi-sensei!" the girl chirped. "My name is Moegi and this is Konohamaru and that's Udon!" she shouted happily whilst pointing to her friends.

Said boys stood up proudly, and the leader – Konohamaru – gestured to himself proudly "that's right! We're gonna be ninjas, the best ever!" if he'd added a 'believe it' to that sentence, he could have been Naruto's spitting image.

Now that we had introduced ourselves, I decided that we should start the training I had promised them.

"Okay you guys, what do you know about chakra?" I asked in my best teacher impression. I doubted that they knew much, but it's always good to set the benchmark for future learning.

"Uuuuuh… what's chakra?"

I face vaulted in response…

…

 **Learn from your Urn**

The rest of the party went by quickly.

The terrible trio had drilled me with questions for an hour until the brown haired man from earlier had collected the leader and the rest dispersed. Apparently the guy was their guardian and the kid was the hokage's grandson. (I _knew_ that name rung a bell)

After that I was escorted back into the kitchen, where there was a handful of presents piled up. I was slightly interested in what they were until I opened the first three 'gifts'. All of them were textbooks! All. Of. Them.

And not ninja textbooks either, they were about civilian numeracy and science literature. After opening all of my presents, I decided that my parents must have some kind of obsession with academics. That, or they had somehow misinterpreted my ninja skills for those budding scientist. What a joke. About the only useful things I had received were some scrolls about medicine and anatomy. Not because I wanted to become a medic nin, but because of my growing senbon collection that I had no clue how to handle. I mean, they were pretty badass on the show so it's only natural for me to want them.

Eventually, I resigned myself to my fate, and decided to retreat into my room for some training before I had to meet up with the hokage. Upon entering, I noticed that a few of my belongings had been misplaced, and that there was a faint chakra signature remaining. Curious, I slunk into the room stealthily in order to catch a glimpse of anything suspicious.

There, in the centre of the room, was a giant urn.

It was almost twice as tall as I was (four and a half feet) and was half as wide. Its sides were dark brown in colour and featured a large etching of the konoha leaf which had been highlighted in a beige paint. Directly below the lid and encompassing the spout, was the depiction of a serpentine dragon.

There was something about finding an ancient relic – the urn was noticeably aged due to its dusty appearance and fading colours – being abandoned in your room that put me on edge. Why was it here? What point did it serve? Was it for me and what did it contain anyway?

Paused once again when I noticed a scroll attached to the urn's lid by a string. It was well kept and looked official.

Curiosity piqued, I walked up to the giant urn and snatched the scroll so that I could uncover the "great Urn mystery".

Up close, the scroll looked even fancier than before. It was wrapped intricately but firmly, and was enclosed using the seal of the sandaime hokage. 'So, Hiruzen decided to finally take an interest in my affairs… I wonder what we'll discuss during our interview.' Shrugging, I opened the scroll carefully and read its contents.

 _Greetings Daichi Ganryu._

 _Over this past year it has become obvious that you are a capable and powerful shinobi, despite your lack of age and experience._

 _My ANBU have been able to deduce from their observations that you are almost equal to Genin rank currently and should no longer be overlooked training-wise. To remedy this, I have provided you with a training tool from your ancestry – yes, your ancestors were part of konoha's shinobi ranks._

 _Within the urn is a number of randomly sized stones. In order to increase your chakra control, you must channel your energy into the stones until you gain complete control over them, and then attempt to levitate or manipulate their position under your own willpower. By gradually increasing the size and amount of stones you carry, you will gain an incredible degree of finesse that only you and you're ancestors could achieved._

 _Also within the urn, is a set of training scrolls for the academy standard jutsus and a piece of chakra paper so that you can discover your natural element. Whilst directing chakra into the material, take note of the reaction that it gives as this will be the indicator of the affinity you have._

 _If you work hard and master the provided materials, I shall arrange for you to be tutored privately. Until then,_

 _Happy birthday_

 _Hokage of konhagakure_

After examining the scroll, I let out a sigh of relief. 'Finally!' I thought to myself, a big grin adorning my face.


	3. Chapter 3

**Time skip part one**

…

 **Four days later**

Bending down from my perch on the sofa, I stared intensely at my training urn – said urn sitting a foot away from me and open invitingly.

Inside, I could make out a small mound of pebbles and stones, the littlest no bigger than my thumb, and the largest among them the size of an apple. They were all coloured a pale sandy brown and were roughly hewn lumps – full of hard angles and straight edges.

Upon my lap, there sat my letter from the hokage.

In truth, it had been a long time since I'd interacted with this damnable urn and it was only shame that had brought me back to it now.

My first attempt at training had been a disaster. No matter how I tried, I could not achieve the focus needed to move a single rock. Yes, I had expanded my chakra like the hokage had explained and yes, I'd permeated the stones with energy until they felt like an extension of my body, but try as I might, I could not move a single stone.

Frustrated, I reread the hokages letter and remembered what he'd told me during our meeting.

Apparently, my new family's past had not always been civilian-oriented. The clan that we descend from were known to be _experts_ in the art of rock based chakra manipulation. In fact, people could go so far as to call the chakra a _Kekkei Genkai_ due to the way it could seep into stone. The hokage revealed tales of brave ninja who battled missing-nin using only earth-release ninjutsu.

They appeared to use less chakra than others to form earth-based Jutsu and had some of the best chakra control in the village. I suppose this explains my rapid improvements in the chakra manipulation department - despite my average chakra reserves (Naruto has no idea how lucky he is when it comes to his ocean-like chakra pool.)

All in all, I felt relieved to have gotten a unique ability, however it was nowhere near as cool as the sharingan eyes or the usumaki vitality or even (as disgusting as they seem) aburame bugs.

Despite all of this knowledge however, I still felt out of my depth during my rock training. Be it the strangeness of my task, the unfamiliarity with the ability or even the unnatural sensation of my chakra inside the rocks, they just refused to be affected in any way my attempts.

This was bad.

Not only that, it was disruptive to my advancement (and I did not want to get left in the dust by the shows protagonists. That would probably lead to me dying… painfully)

My current training schedule consisted of waking up, eating breakfast (bacon and eggs, my favourite!) and then entering my garden to begin some chakra control exercises – water walking and senbon balancing were my newest activities. After a few hours of this, I would start to run through my katas and perfect my new Taijutsu style; Yoda's fist. Once it was lunchtime I would open my lunchbox and practice my kunai throwing whilst munching, before spending the rest of the day practicing the academy jutsus: henge, body replacement and shadow clone.

By the time evening began, I would be completely exhausted and would either fall asleep or practice some fuinjutsu just for the hell of it. What? It's interesting and potentially useful. Why wouldn't I practice sealing?

However, despite my brutal and tiring regime, I knew I could improve it. The problem was that it hinged on the success of my urn attempts. In order to kick my training up a notch, I should complete my usual days practice whilst constantly floating the practice stones. Clever? Yes, to a degree. Whilst it would be helpful to condense my training and do several things at once, it could seriously burn through my chakra reserves and potentially stall my training with chakra exhaustion.

On the other hand, I was never one to do things by half measures.

Back in my old world, I would occasionally injure myself during my martial arts classes and would be the last to quit an activity – be it physical exercise or mental puzzle. That mentality even seeped over to my work ethics. People knew that I always got the job done and part of my popularity with 'clients' stemmed from my reliability.

Besides dying, I feel like my skills developed well enough.

In the real world, it had been several minutes of subtle chakra manipulation since I'd begun. I was still having no luck on the stone floating front and I was beginning to get antsy. _'Think to yourself, what are you missing?'_ I questioned myself impatiently.

' _The letter said to make them one with myself – as if it were another limb… what does that mean?!'_ I continued. _'Okay, if I were to move my hand what happens? It's not like I force my own hand to move, it's more like I instinctually respond to brain signals which are created by my subconscious - It doesn't work when ordered to, it instead responds to my familiarity of its presence and my will for it to do something… is this how I could get the stones to work? By acting as if they were body parts?'_

This theory was starting to make sense. All this time I had been _telling_ the rocks to move rather than moving them through instinct and feelings.

Deciding that it was worth a try, I sought out my connection to the stones and imagined them being attached to me physically. Doing this felt weird. It wasn't like I was controlling the stones; more like they were a part of me which had always been present – I had just never noticed it until now.

Assuming that this was a good sign, I pressed onwards and willed the topmost stone to slide (as if the stone were my hand and I was willing it to flex)

Instantly, the stone reacted. The movement wasn't gradual, and it didn't seem to wait – it just moved; exactly how I wanted it to and with the slightest of provocations. It made me feel both giddy and excited (rare emotions for me to display) and I let out an unbidden squeak.

Curse this infant's body!

Liking where this was going, I connected to all of the surface stones – 24 in total – and willed them to rise into the air.

Immediately (once again) all of the affected stones began to hover. Was this how Gaara felt whilst controlling his sand? Because if so, I can see why it was so dangerous and effective. This amount of control was beyond my expectations – and I'd barely used any chakra!

'This is going to be good…' I thought before returning my stones to their urn.

…

 **Three months later**

This night had been on my mind for weeks.

Days had been spent preparing.

Nights had been wasted, skulking in the shadows like a ghost.

All of my efforts were in anticipation for this day. The day I would gain my jutsus.

You see, I had begun to tire of just the three academy jutsus. They were fun whilst they lasted, but I was reaching the limits of my ability to improve. I could create a near perfect henge of my parents. My bunshin were passable and I could create 5 at once with chakra to spare. Finally, my kawarimi/body replacement technique (which I'd focused the most on – everyone uses it!) was versatile and effective enough to fool even chunin… possibly…

It was high time for me to collect some new jutsus, and I knew the perfect place to do so.

The library upper levels.

High on my shopping list was the shunshin (body flicker). Not only was it a damn awesome traveling aide, it had been known to spawn quite a few famous shinobi – chief among which was shizui – a man able to surround and confuse his enemies using the shunshin alone.

I was also looking for some earth release jutsus to complement my earth natured chakra affinity. Using a combination of both, I would have a high chance of making a name for myself in battle.

The plan which I had created was a simple one, but cunning none the less. Using a small lapse in security, I would enter the library and sneak passed the guards. On this particular day of the week, I had noticed (after almost a month of careful observation) that far less competent guards were on duty. It was at this moment in the day that their concentration became lax and they ended up eating lunch together outside. Why they had never been punished for this, I'll never know…

Nevertheless, in the coming hour, I planned to take advantage of their incompetence and sneak into the restricted areas of the library, nab the scrolls I needed and make a clean getaway - all before the chunin guards had finished their sandwiches.

Shuddering slightly in anticipation, I adjusted the fit of my black robes, and pulled up my grey hoody. My outfit had been suitably modified; it now featured a hooded grey shirt inside a flowing high-collared cloak. Adorning it were brown trims at its edges and a split down the middle starting just under my navel.

Now was the time.

Putting my stealth skills to the test, I left my perch on the opposite building and leapt effortlessly towards the library's window, where I crouched noiselessly and peered inside. Seeing that the coast was clear and that the guards had left their duties, I slipped silently into the building.

' _So far so good…'_

Now that I was inside, I could see that the library was almost abandoned and there would be no potential witnesses. Putting on a burst of speed, I glided across the scattered desks and chairs without a single snag or stumble.

Soon, I stood before my goal: a thick mahogany door that separated me from my treasures. Luckily I could see nor sense any seals.

I breathed a sigh of relief - if the door had been as protected as the windows, I would be in a whole heap of trouble.

Gathering my remaining resolve, I pried open the door and entered. Inside it was dark - much darker than I had expected. Suddenly the idea of an ANBU mask was not as petty as I had thought on my birthday. Night vision seals would be a life saver in circumstances such as these.

Despite the oppressive darkness, I made my way towards the ninjutsu section (the buildings schematics had been a useful discovery for me a few days ago) and began to search among the papers. Overall, I discovered five separate earth release ninjutsu scrolls, the _shunshin_ and even the _Earth release: shadow clone_ which was a huge bonus.

Now all I had to do was start a new training schedule and I'd become an amazing ninja in no time!

That is, after I got out of this place… yep, definitely need to leave…

"…"

' _I love it when a plan comes together.'_ I thought to myself, grinning all the while.

…

 **One month later.**

I stood in a clearing by myself. Its name was training ground 56 and was practically abandoned – well, it had been until I'd taken up permeant residence there.

It was my new base of operations. Secluded, stocked with training equipment and with enough space to cast A ranked Jutsu. What more could you want?

Deciding that id rested for long enough, I raised my hands into a familiar position; both arms at ninety degree angles with palms facing inwards. Suddenly they whirred into motion, forming a single seal: tiger

My first clue about what had happened was a strange visual distortion. I looked like was seeing through a filter – time crawled at a snail's pace and the edges of my vision were blurry.

Next I felt my chakra drain. The depletion was alarming!

Only seconds into the Jutsu, I was feeling the strain on my reserves and doubted that I could hold on much longer. My cue to end the Jutsu was fast approaching and with that in mind, I took five steps forward.

Ending the Jutsu, (and shrugging off my debilitating nausea) I took stock of my surroundings.

To my left, a butterfly was moving once again. Above me some leaves began their descent once more. Finally, I turned around and watched a twig land where I had been standing previously.

My Jutsu had worked – the shunshin was at my disposal!

After almost a month of training, I had decided that I would focus half of my day on training just the shunshin no Jutsu, so that I could eventually perfect it – and I would be starting today. For me, the shunshin seemed like a cheat code (it just felt _that_ ridiculously OP)

I knew for a fact that once you get good with the shunshin, you can teleport with next to no side effects. Shunshin no shizui ring any bells? I also knew that once you're good enough at a Jutsu, you don't need to use hand seals. Also, I felt like nobody (apart from _maybe_ shizui) used the shunshin properly.

Usually, a shinobi will use the shunshin for basic long range movement. This is costly but effective and allows them to arrive at places quickly. The fundamentals of the shunshin are that the further you move, the more chakra you expend and the more chakra control you have (like with any Jutsu) the less chakra is wasted on a Jutsu.

This got me thinking.

What if instead of going long distances, you travelled mere yards – you would hardly expend any chakra. This allows the user to essentially teleport behind their enemy and behead them. With virtually no chakra needed…

If someone were to master the shunshin the level that they could teleport without hand seals, they would decimate enemies on the battlefield. The wielder could wreak havoc similar to Minato Namikaze and his space-time shenanigans.

I did not stop practicing the shunshin until dinnertime.

 _Whatever it took, I would master this Jutsu…_

…

 **Two weeks later**

I walked through the underbrush hastily, making short work of the forest shrubbery that blocked my path. Sounds of pursuit were ominous behind me, and I could tell that there were more than one Genin on my tail. _'It looks like I'll have to lose them somehow. Best not speed up though… I may be fast, but they have four years of experience against my_ one _– plus they're all older than me. I'm just gonna have to lose them some other way.'_

I steeled my nerves and focused on masking my trail. I might not have experienced a chase in this body, but I still have a repertoire of tricks on my side.

However, before I could consider an escape route, I heard a rush of wind behind me.

Normal children wouldn't have noticed, but I was no ordinary child. After a lifetime on the run, and now a reservoir of chakra to enhance my senses, I heard the faint whistle of air and jumped on instinct alone.

It's lucky that I did.

The projectile aimed at my thigh was sure to have maimed my still maturing leg. Instead, I was flying through the air like a toddler-sized bullet – landing safely on a thin, bare branch.

Again I heard a whistle, but this time I saw its source; a fast approaching shuriken.

I jerked back reactively, narrowly avoiding the weapon and leaving a large gash along my right arm.

' _Damn it!'_ I cursed mentally.

Taking in my surroundings for a split second, I located several blurred movements within the forest, blending in with the accented shadows.

I jumped again and launched my own projectile (a stone that I picked up earlier) and then blurred through some hand seals "bunshin no Jutsu!"

Around me appeared eight perfect copies of me in mid-air, subtly adjusting themselves in order to land on separate branches. My heart beat violently against my chest and I shook with pent up energy.

How many attackers had I spotted?

4?

5?

Too many for me to fight right now. This was going to get dangerous.

Giving a nod to my gathered doppelgangers, we separated - some heading backwards, one following me protectively, the others dispersing into the foliage. Hopefully this would be enough of a distraction for me to escape.

I ran

Faster than ever before.

Jumping between branches was becoming easier as my fear grew. I could hear the tell tail signs of one-sided battle and realised that they would find me soo-

My frantic thoughts were interrupted by a massive pain from my ribs. The force of it was blinding – any harder and I might have lost consciousness. Trying to aid my fall was useless; my attacker made sure of that.

The next thing I knew I was in a circular clearing, lying on my side. _Maybe I did black out?_

My face was buried in dirt and my eyes stung. On the edge of my peripherals were feet.

6 pairs of them.

' _Oh god'_

No matter how prodigious I may be, I was still a one year old and stood no chance against even a single competent Genin…


End file.
